


We who Walk Here

by Howland



Category: The Haunting (1963)
Genre: Denial, First Kiss, Haunted Houses, M/M, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-22
Updated: 2011-07-22
Packaged: 2017-10-21 15:46:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/226875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Howland/pseuds/Howland
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Missing Scene from the 1963 film. --  Luke and Markway talk about Hill House, the girls, and just what it is that lurks in the dark as they chase Dr. Markway's phantom dog across the grounds.  As they talk Luke becomes spooked, and Markway has urges.  They should be careful out there in the dark, Hill House is known to have a mind of its own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We who Walk Here

**Author's Note:**

> One of my favourite movies of all time, but since there is NO fic out there for it I decided I needed to write some. Nothing too scary going on here, I'm working on more for the unsettling spookiness viewers felt at the beginning of the film just as they entered the house and not the heart gripping terror they felt towards the end.

“So what kind of dog was it?”  Luke switched his flashlight from right hand to left, his unoccupied hand being quickly tucked under his arm to ward against the chill of the autumn night.  It was colder than he’d thought it’d be in this part of the country.  “Was it big at least doc? Because I’m gonna say we call it quits if we’re just out here tracking some nosey schnauzer.”

Dr. John Markway sighed, shoving his own free hand deeper into his pants’ pocket.  “As I’ve already told you, I didn’t see it.  I just heard it as it ran past.  Size and breed are hardly important anyway.  Be it rottweiler or cocker spaniel, the last thing we need is some feral creature corrupting the experiment.”

Luke looked ready to start up again so John yanked his hand out of his pocket and made a motion to keep him quiet.  “Besides,”  he continued quickly.  “I would think stray dogs would hardly be the sort of thing you’d want in your property.  It only takes one territorial beast to ruin a priceless antique.”  

That shut Luke up quick, a deep frown cutting across his face.  “Damn.”  He muttered after a moment, adding no quip to the end.  This was serious business if his inheritance was involved.  

They walked in silence for some time, their flash light beams rather ineffective at penetrating through the dense foliage of Hill House’s grounds.  For a good portion of the back yard path any dog would have been trapped by the wrought iron fence on either side of the gravel, but after two dozen yards or so the barriers stopped and dense New England forest loomed.  

As they reached the end of the path Luke and the doctor drew to a halt, each eyeing the dark woods warily.  Spending the night in a haunted house was one thing, spending the night in a haunted forest was another.

“I don’t know doc.”  Luke groused.  “Not sure it’s such a good idea to go out in that this time of night.  Looks pretty easy to get lost in there.  Don’t get me wrong, I’d like to catch the mongrel as much as you, but I’d also like to get to sleep sometime tonight and, uh, not be stuck here wandering ‘til god knows when.”

John nodded slowly.  “I think you might be right, but perhaps we should check a short ways in, just to be on the safe side.  The plants and trees here are quite dense, I wouldn’t be surprised if the unlucky beast was just as intimidated by the maze as us.”

John hadn’t meant it as a challenge, but Luke straightened up anyway.  With a shrug of forced non-chalance he let his flashlight sweep lazily back and forth.  “Whatever you say Dr. Markway.”

The Doctor laughed and clapped Luke on the shoulder.  “I’m not sure what spurred your sudden formality, but there’s no need.  John is fine.”

“Okay _John_.”  Luke spread his arm out and slapped a smirk on his face.  “After you.”

With a nod John stepped off the path and began to pick his way carefully through the woods.  After a second’s hesitation, Luke followed.

They were quiet again, moving slowly so they could both concentrate on their footing and continue scouting the area for Markway’s mystery dog.  Save for a bitter wind, the forest was silent.

“Well.”  Luke muttered after a time.  “Out of all the para-psycho-whatsits I’ve met today, you were the last one I thought I’d be spending the night with.  No offense meant, of course.”

“None taken.”  John replied smoothly, holding a heavy branch up so Luke could slip under it.  “Though I doubt you’d have any luck getting either of the women to spend the evening with you.”

Luke scoffed, hopping over a fallen log and turning sideways to squeeze between two ancient, thick-trunked oaks.  “I think you’re underestimating my abilities doc.  Theo’s a Psychic, Nell’s, uh, sensitive, and well me, I’m good with the ladies.”  He flashed what he thought was a particularly dashing grin over his shoulder but the doctor was no longer behind him.

“Oh I’d never dream of underestimating you.”  Markway murmured as he chose the longer route around the oaks.  When they made eye contact again, John’s smile was by far the warmest thing Luke had seen all night and it brought a twinge of welcome heat to Luke’s skin.  “It’s just that I’m fairly certain Nell is no position to be spending her evenings with gentlemen, and Miss Theodora, well, ah, I believe she is otherwise engaged.”

With a shrug Luke turned away from the man’s gentle gaze and made a show of crouching down to peer under some bushes.  A small rabbit gazed back, frozen and terrified, but no dog.  

“I don’t know about that doc.”  The young man countered, standing up again.  “Didn’t see her wearing any rings.”  He wiggled his fingers in emphasis.

“Yes, well.”  John sounded a bit uncomfortable as be touched Luke’s shoulder, steering him a bit to the right towards a slightly easier passage through the next copse of trees.  “You see, when I wrote Theodora and asked her to come here, well, ah, her address was listed alongside the name of another young woman.”

“What, like a roommate?”  

John looked pained.  “Not so much.”

Something about the doctor’s tone made Luke turn sharply, studying his face for a long moment before it dawned on him exactly what the man was saying.  He groaned and stopped dead, putting his forearm on the nearest tree trunk and leaning heavily against it.  “Well damn.”  he grumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose.  “That’s no fun.”

For a moment John let Luke lament the loss before he moved closer to him and lay a hand on his shoulder.  “You will be tactful now, won’t you?”  He asked gently.  “We are not here to judge Theodora for the way she lives her life.  Nor to judge anyone else for how they live theirs.”

“What?”  Luke turned, brow furrowed.  He shook his head and sighed heavily before continuing “I’m a modern man, Markway. I got no problem with a broad who, you know, likes what she likes.  It’s just this is gonna make the time a lot less interesting for me doc, if you know what I mean.”

The line of tension in Markway’s shoulders relaxed as he studied Luke’s face, his smile returning.  “Well, I shall endeavor to comfort you whatever way I can my young friend.”

There was something so kind in the doctor’s face, Luke found it downright distracting as he held the man’s gaze.  When his Aunt had told him that the individual leasing the house was a professor, and worse, an anthropologist, he’d promptly gone out for a martini or three.  It’d been all he could do to steel himself against what he was certain would be miserably cerebral week watching over his inheritance. 

He would have never guessed that Doctor John Markway would be so warm.  In his experience older men with phd’s and theories to prove were an unpleasant bunch.  Cold and judgmental and nothing like the sort of guys he’d chosen to spend his time with in college.  He’d given the week up for a bust long before he’d set eyes on the instigator of this little experiment.  Only now was he beginning to reevaluate his mindset.  

“Well,”  Luke tugged at the lapels of his dressing gown, pushing off from the tree and once again attempting to make forward progress.  “Guess if the women aren’t going to be amenable to my company, a nice stroll through the woods with the boss is an alright alternative.”

“I’ll take that as high praise!  It’s been awhile since I’ve had to entertain young men, I’m glad to see I’m not so very out of practice.”   Luke’s back was to Markway so he did not see the laughter in the older man’s eyes, a bright spot in the otherwise intense darkness of the grounds.  

Although he would have thought it impossible, Luke could swear the woods were getting even denser the further in they went.  The wind rustled through the trees.  Once green foliage was beginning to change with the seasons, and the dry leaves rattled and shushed like laughing imps in the dark.  Luke shivered and tucked his free arm closer to his body.  The hand holding the flashlight became slightly unsteady, its beam beginning to dance more wildly across the deeply furrowed trunks of Hill House’s ancient trees. 

“Are you cold, Luke?”  Markway’s voice was full of concern, it’s warmth once again a near palpable thing to Luke. It tempered the tension which had begun to creep into his frame, chasing some of the chill from Luke’s skin and leaving goose bumps in its wake. 

“Yeah, I suppose.  Woods are giving me a bit of the willies though doc.  Don’t you think we should have heard something by now?”  He paused for a moment but Dr. Markway said nothing, though Luke could hear him rustling as he moved about behind him.  “I mean, if there was a dog you think we would have heard it bark or growl or step on a damn twig at least.  And dog or no, there have got to owls and cats and other things that should be protesting our presence.  Why haven’t we heard anything?  I don’t get it.”

A sudden warmth was draped over Luke’s shoulders making him start and whirl around towards John.  The doctor raised one hand in a calming gesture, his other hand resting in between Luke’s shoulders, keeping the jacket he’d just put on him in place.  

“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.”  He murmured, moving slowly to adjust the jacket, tugging it more snugly over the young man’s form.  Luke stood perfectly still for a long minute, just staring.  Then he slowly raised his own hand to hold onto the lapels.  The corduroy was still warm with Dr. Markway’s body heat.  

“Perhaps,”  The doctor began as he took a step back “even the animals believe the rumors of Hill House.  Like Mrs. Dudley said, no one lives any closer than town, no one will come any closer than that.”

Luke was a second late in his scoffing reply, but John didn’t seem to notice.  “Come on doc, there’s gotta be a better explanation than that.  Perhaps the dirt around here’s got some sort of... toxic chemical in it, or maybe there <i>is</i> a dog, a big mean one who scares everybody else off.”

He snapped his fingers as a thought came to him.  “You know I saw a rabbit earlier hiding under a bush.  Maybe every thing’s just cowering like that, hiding in the dark.”

“Or from it.”  Markway replied mysteriously, coming to a halt in front of a stand of maple trees grown so closely together there was no feasible way to get through them.  

Luke drew up beside him, hunching his shoulders under the doctor’s jacket and shining his flashlight side to side then all the way up until it was pointing through the dying leaves towards the sparse slivers of moonless sky.  The air smelled like dead plants and cold air.  

“Think we might’ve taken a wrong turn, doc.”  He turned his flashlight beam on Markway, careful to keep the light from shining directly in the man’s eyes.  On the older man’s face was a look of mild consternation.

“Damn.”  The curse was bland and John sighed as he met Luke’s eyes.  “Guess the dog has gotten away this time.”

They held each others’ gaze for a long moment, Luke’s mouth going suddenly dry.  What was it about the man’s eyes that so got to him?  Was it the kindness?  His warmth?  Luke had met good people before in his life, but never anyone he’d come to trust so quickly.  There was probably no one before now who he would have followed on a wild goose chase into an unknown New England wood in the middle of a frigid autumn night, but now here he was with a near stranger.  It was the damnedest thing.  

Unconsciously Luke fingered the material of Markway’s Jacket.  It was weathered and softened from much use, but still in good repair.  A part of him wondered at having been given a jacket like a date after the high school prom, but he tried not to linger on the thought.  It’d been a nice gesture, that was all.  A remarkably nice gesture, from a remarkable man.

Then why was his heart beating faster?

Something creaked and groaned out in the woods.  Like a tree had shifted in the soil, trying uproot and run away only to be held fast by the black earth.  The moment broke between the two men and Luke jerked his head to the side, chuckling warily.  “Spooky place, huh doc?”

Nodding, Markway turned back the way they came, shining his flashlight beam ahead and gesturing for Luke to go before him.  “Oh without a doubt, that is why I came here after all.  But I do have to say, I’m rather comforted by the company.”

Luke wasn’t sure what to say to that so he went to his default of ‘smile cheekily and saunter.’

Leaves crunched underfoot as they made their way back towards Hill house, their feet moving a touch faster on the return than they had when they’d first entered the woods.  

Try as he might Luke found he couldn’t relax.  The night was starting to bug him in a way it hadn’t since he was a child; His hair was right on end.  Not to mention how hung up he was getting about the coat.  Good.  So he was now Markway’s scared-y cat girlfriend, afraid of the dark and in need of a gentleman’s consideration.  Next thing he knew he’d be shrieking at shadows and being carried over puddles.  

Exhaling heavily he shrugged the coat off his shoulders and held it out to Markway as if it had offended him. “Thanks doc, I’m feeling warmer now.”

They both stopped walking, John a half step behind Luke as he stared at the coat. “Oh,”  He murmured, reaching up to touch it but not take it away from Luke.  “You’re welcome, of course, but you’re certain you don’t need it anymore?”

Luke shrugged, and gave a grin which belied an easiness he did not feel.  “It’s nice and all doc but I wasn’t that chilly to begin with.  I’m not you’re date, either.  You don’t gotta look out for me.”

He’d meant the last part to be a joke but a crease formed between Markway’s brows as he frowned, taking the coat back and slipping it on slowly.  “I didn’t mean to offend you Luke.  I intended it as a courtesy, not some sort of barb at your masculinity.”

With a laugh Luke tucked his hands into the thin pockets of his robe, not meeting Markway’s eyes as he scoffed. “Big words doc.  Don’t worry, I know we’re not on a date.”  

With his head down he started walking again, muttering under his breath “I’d expect you to take me some place nicer if we were.”

Not to say that he’d ever want to go on a date with Markway.  God he must be tired or something, running his mouth off like this.  No, he didn’t swing that way.  Knew a guy who did, and George was alright and all, but Luke was a ladies man through and through.  Mustaches and corduroy jackets didn’t do a thing for him. No. The doc was turning out to be a great guy and all, but no.  Nope.  No way.

“I suppose I’d also have to kiss you goodnight then, wouldn’t I?”  The sound of their feet thumping on hard packed dirt was replaced by the crunch of gravel as they started down the fenced path with led back to the house.  Doctor Markway’s quiet question threatened to be lost in the noise and Luke swallowed hard, wondering if he should just keep walking and make out like he hadn’t heard.

“Suppose so.”  He said instead, hardly able to believe the words as they escaped his mouth.  What was with him tonight?  Damn haunted house and spooky forest and nice old man making him do things-

A tug at his sleeve made him slow down from what had become a brisk march towards Hill House’s back door.  Feeling uneasy he stopped walking, moving reluctantly as Markway gently spun him around so they were facing each other.  The stone arches and marble pillars of the veranda where only a few yards away.  If he made a dash for it, he could probably get up to his room and down enough scotch to forget about this come morning all before Markway could even say ‘Come again?’

Instead he braced himself, waiting for the laughter, or confusion, or scolding.  It had been a stupid conversation to start and he knew it.  He was surprised then when what he got was a warm hand at his jaw, urging him to tilt his head back, and a pair of thin chapped lips pressed against his own.

‘Damn.’  Luke thought, standing stiff as a board and eyes wide open, staring at the heat and friendliness and good humour in Markways own half-lidded gaze.  

That was as eloquent as he got before Luke let his eyes fall shut and leaned into it, turning his head so his lips rubbed against the older man’s. His hands were shaking, so he balled them into fists in his pockets and locked his knees, refusing to show any sign of weakness.

The doctor’s free hand stroked Luke’s jaw before sliding back and threading in his hair, cupping the back of his skull so he could guide the younger man’s head to the side.  Luke didn’t resist, exhaling heavily through his nose before licking once at the doctor’s lips.  John’s mouth stayed closed, but his lips grew damp.  As he drew the warm moist pressure across Luke’s mouth, he inhaled deeply, savoring the proximity, before pulling back slowly.

Luke looked dazed as his eyes opened again, his heart thundering and his breath coming heavier than it should have from just a kiss.  

“Damn.”  He mumbled, a flush rising to his cheeks as he stared at the older man and realized he didn’t know what to say.  This was patently ludicrous.  They’d just met.  They had nothing in common (save the house).  They were ages apart.  They were both men.  

The warm hand which had been resting on the back of Luke’s head slid down to his shoulder then was drawn away reluctantly.  A frown had returned to Markway’s face, all his warmth and good humor touched now by a hint of surprise at his own actions and concern for Luke.  

All this had happened so quickly.

“Forgive me, that was, a rather rash thing for me to do.  I’m sorry I-”

Luke threw up a hand to halt the stream of apologies and shook his head.  “No, uh, don’t sweat it doc.” 

Now was neither the time nor the place.  

So Luke grinned, which he was good at, and took the reins.  “Well, that was fun.  Too bad we couldn’t find you’re dog.”

Without another word Luke turned and started back towards the door.  After a couple seconds he realized he didn’t hear a second pair of feet on the gravel and looked over his shoulder questioningly at John.  “It’s getting mighty cold out here doc.  You coming?”

Markway’s posture was all relaxed dignity, like always, but the look in his eyes betrayed his uncertainty.  He stared at Luke for a long moment, like the younger man was a particularly interesting psychic phenomenon which he was trying to understand, then his gaze relaxed until his expression matched his posture and he smiled.  

“Yes of course.  It’s quite late, about time we all got to bed.”

“Too true doc.  Don’t want to leave the girls alone to long either.”

“No, no, can’t have that.”

Together they walked back into the house, pulling the door shut sharply and making sure it was secured against any would be intruders, dog or otherwise.  As they made their way to the staircase they kept the conversation mild, trying to put the walk out of mind.  

Unsure of where his actions had come from and what to make of them, Markway let himself consider a few preposterous notions about the house and psychic influence before he let it all go.  They were both careful not to touch each other, careful to keep their voices natural as they walked, and thankful for the panicked faces of the girls as they met them on the upper floor.  

Careful to keep it friendly as they said goodnight.  Careful to keep their minds blank as they got to their rooms and got into bed. Careful to go to sleep quickly.  Careful not to dream.  Careful to ignore the nagging voices in their minds asking them what might have happened if they’d let it go a little bit further. 

Somewhere deep inside, Hill House laughed.  It was beginning.


End file.
